Reinforced structure and method of making same



'G. A. SCHICK, Ia.

REINFORCED STRUCTURE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1910.

1,304,811. Patented May.27,1919.

Inventor) UNITEDSTATES PATENT orrron.

GEORGE A. SCHICK, J Rt, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB '10 FERDINAND KELLER, 53., 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application filed June 1a, 1918. Serial No. 239,809.

To all 'wl iom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, GEORGE A. Snac J r., acitizen of -the United States, res1d1ng 1n Camden, New Jersey, have invented Rem- 6 forced Structures and Methods of Making Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of reinforcing materials suchas leather soles, belting or the like by closely placed lines of stitches made of relatively durable thread, and one of its objects is to provide such a structure in which the stitches shall not only be formed of a single length of thread instead of two threads as has hitherto been the case, but shall also be of novel form.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new article of manufacture which shall include reinforcing transverse threads so disposed as to provide on one face a series of projecting plugs whose arrangement shall such as to materially increase the life and strength of the material to which they are applied.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a novel method for inserting and forming a single thread in a body of sheet material so that it shall provide a series of stitches capable of serving as reinforcing plugs for said material.

These objects and other advantageous ends Iattain as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a plan and an inverted plan of a piece of flat material to which my invention has been applied;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 33, Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4; and 5 are enlarged vertical sections taken at right angles to each. other, illustrating my method.

In the above drawings, 1 represents a body of fiat sheet material such as one or more thickness of leather, canvas, fiber, composite sheet or the like which it is desired to reinforce. For this purpose it has formed in it a series of uniformly spaced, trans verse "holes 2 made by an awl 3 operated by hand or forming part of a suitable machine. Thereafter, by means of a suitable needle, a thread, preferably of linen impregnated with a water proofing compound in a temporarily semi-liquid condition, is drawn shortly after the formation of the moved as to disengage it from the loop and that end 'of the thread leading .to the-spool or other source of thread is pulled to diminish the size of the loop until this latter closely engages the awl 4 so as to draw it against the under sideof the material 1 when said awl is withdrawn. The next hole in the material is then formed by the awl 3, the needle 5 is passed through this hole so that its hook 6' engages the thread leading from the last formed plug or stitch and it is then operated to draw said thread through the hole to form a. second loop. As before the awl 4 is then projected between the sides of the loop, and is withdrawn after the thread has been drawn tight the above cycle of operations being continued indefinitely. v

-The plugs thus formedv are obviously all made of a single length of thread and each has a looped head m at one end of the hole in which it lies so that it projects beyond one face of the body of leather or other material constituting the sheet or piece 1, there being on the opposite face of said body a series of straight thread sections 00 all lying in the same straight line. The size of the holes, the gage of the thread and the material with which the latter is saturated, are such that when said material solidifies lu s said holes are completely filled so that the passage of water, etc., is effectually prevented. Moreover by the use of thread plugs each extending completely through the sheet in two parallel lengths in each hole, not only are the structural strength and wear resisting qualities of the sheet materially increased, but its tendency to break or crack along the lines of stitches is effectually prevented.

The projecting heads 00 may serve, in the case of leather soles, as ground-engaging elements in which case they take an appreciable amount of wear from the body 1, and the stitching as a whole reinforces the strength as well as prolongs the length of life of said structure. Moreover, by the use of my invention the flexibility of the sheet material stitches, there is no such cutting of the material by the thread from hole to hole as ordinarily occurs.

It is especially to be noted that wlth the peculiar arrangement of the plugs and by reason of the method whereby .they are formed, I am enabled to insert and retaln the thread as desired and form the loops or stitches from but a single length of the same, where hitherto it has been customary to employ two intermeshing or interlocked threads. As a consequence my invention permits of a material reduction in the quantity of thread required for a glven reinforcement.

While the above thread reinforce and method of applying the same is particularly valuable for strengthening and increasing the wear-resistin qualities of the leather of shoe soles, belting, etc., it may obviously be employed without departing from my 1nvention for strengthening or reinforcing other forms of sheet materials.

I claim:

l. A new article of manufacture consist:

ing of a body of sheet material, and a series of reinforcing plugs formed of a single length of thread, each consisting of two parallel portions extending completely through the material and forming an independent, self retaining head on one face thereof.

2. A new article of manufacture consisting of a body of sheet material, with a single thread disposed in the form of a series of loops extending through said material and formed into independent, self retaining heads adjacent one face thereof.

3. A new article of manufacture consisting of a body of sheet material, and stitches therein consisting of a single length of thread formed into a series of loops, each passing through the material in a single channel and terminating on one face thereof at one end of said channel in a closed looped portion constituting a head.

4. A new article of manufacture consisting of a body of sheet material and stitches therein consisting of a single length of, thread formed into a series of loops, each passing through the material in a single channel and terminating on one face thereof in a looped portion constituting a head, adjacent loops being connected on the opposite face of the body by straight portions extending in the same straight line.

5. The method of reinforcing sheet material which consists in forming a hole therein; drawing a loop of thread through said hole, then drawing back said thread against a retaining tension, to cause said loop to form a head; and thereafter continuing to form a succession of holes and place headed loops therein.

6. The method of inserting a series of thread plugs in a body of sheet material which consists in forming a hole in the material, placing a loop of thread therethrough, drawing back the projecting loop of said thread against a retaining tension to form a looped head on one face of the body of material; and thereafter continuing to form holes and place headed thread loops therein.

In Witness whereof I afiix my signature.

GEORGE A. SCHICK, JR. 

